Average power rating of opponents played: WINNIPEG 3.01, NASHVILLE 2.25

SCHEDULE AND RESULTS

WINNIPEG - Schedule

Date

Opponent

Score

SU

Line

ATS

Total

O/U

10/4/2018

at ST LOUIS

5-1

W

0, -120

W

6 un

P

10/6/2018

at DALLAS

1-5

L

0, -120

L

6 ev

P

10/9/2018

LOS ANGELES

2-1

W

0, -200

W

6 un

U

10/11/2018

at NASHVILLE

10/14/2018

CAROLINA

10/16/2018

EDMONTON

10/18/2018

VANCOUVER

10/20/2018

ARIZONA

10/22/2018

ST LOUIS

NASHVILLE - Schedule

Date

Opponent

Score

SU

Line

ATS

Total

O/U

10/4/2018

at NY RANGERS

3-2

W

0, -175

W

6 un

U

10/6/2018

at NY ISLANDERS

4-3

W

0, -160

W

6 ev

O

10/9/2018

CALGARY

0-3

L

0, -170

L

6 un

U

10/11/2018

WINNIPEG

10/13/2018

NY ISLANDERS

10/15/2018

MINNESOTA

10/19/2018

at CALGARY

10/20/2018

at EDMONTON

KEY GAME INFORMATION

WINNIPEG: LAST SEASON: 52-20-10, 114 points. Finished second in Central Division. LOST to Vegas Golden Knights in Western Conference final.
COACH: Paul Maurice (Sixth season, 21st NHL season)
ADDED: G Laurent Brossoit
LOST: C Paul Stastny, F Matt Hendricks, F Joel Armia, G Steve Mason
PLAYER TO WATCH: RW Patrik Laine. The Finnish phenom's 44 goals were second in the NHL last season to Alex Ovechkin' 49, and he's only 20 years old. Maurice thinks Laine's game is becoming more mature and well-rounded, and it has to be to carry the Jets back to title-contending status. Laine also could score 40-plus goals again because his shot is just that wicked.
OUTLOOK: Winnipeg has been on the rise in recent seasons and should be even better after its playoff run ended in the West final in five games. With Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little and Dustin Byfuglien still in their primes, and Laine, Nikolai Ehlers, Joshua Morrissey and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck still improving, the Jets are among the favorites to come out of the West ' if they can get past Nashville again.

PREVIEW

Predators can't affored to get boxed in against Jets

For all the good things the Nashville Predators did last season to win the Presidents' Trophy, there was one nagging problem, which they've yet to solve in the first three games of the 2018-19 season.

The Predators can't stay out of the penalty box, and it came back to bite them Tuesday night in a 3-0 loss to Calgary that spoiled their home opener. Continued penalty issues could spell doom on Thursday night when they host the Winnipeg Jets in the teams' first meeting since a riveting Western Conference semifinal last spring.

After playing a reasonably clean game with just three minors and one shorthanded situation in the season opener on Oct. 4 at the New York Rangers, Nashville (2-1-0) drew five minors and had to kill off four power plays in a 4-3 win Saturday night at the New York Islanders.

The Predators then took three minors in the first 25 minutes Tuesday night, and the Flames converted two of those into goals to set the tone. Forced into chase mode the rest of the way, Nashville couldn't solve up-and-down goalie Mike Smith, who was on the up side of a 43-save shutout.

"We did good things, we just couldn't find a way to score and that was definitely frustrating," Predators center Ryan Johansen said. "We wanted to get the building involved and we were trying, but tonight wasn't our night."

Nor was it Nashville's night the last time it saw Winnipeg, which was on May 10 in Game 7 of a entertaining, back-and-forth series between the league's two best regular-season teams.

The Jets chased Pekka Rinne with two goals on shots Rinne badly wanted back, then pulled away in the third period for a 5-1 win that wrapped up a 4-3 series victory and their first trip to a conference final.

While these aren't the same teams that skated up and down the Bridgestone Arena ice on a warm spring night, they're still mostly intact. And the home crowd is sure to remember that Winnipeg ended what they presumed would be a run to the Stanley Cup.

"It'll probably get hyped up more just because of what happened last year, and I think that's just the way things go from previous years when teams come back and they reconnect the next year," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "There's always more of a hot button to it, but at the end of the day it's a new season."

One that the Jets (2-1-0) have started with great expectations after their best NHL season. They played their home opener as well on Tuesday night but unlike Nashville, they sent the home crowd out of the rink in a good mood after dispatching Los Angeles 2-1.

"We generate chances, zone time, from a certain type of mentality of what pucks we shoot and which ones we don't," Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said. "When we shoot the ones we want, we're able to carry and maintain our speed in the offensive zone."